Mind the Gap
What factors empower minority students studying Computer Science? Over the past few years, as in many other STEM fields, CS has started to confront its own problems with diversity and inclusivity. Race, class, and gender can each negatively affect the number of people who become involved in CS, from majoring in CS, to working in tech-related fields, or pursuing grad school and becoming faculty - and it all becomes even worse when intersectionality comes into play. This podcast aims to empower students pursuing computer science through interviews featuring alums in the tech field. We hope to build a community of like-minded people who support underrepresented groups in technology.
Listen on:
Episodes
Thursday May 11, 2023
Thursday May 11, 2023
Joining Jelimo on the show today is Akofa Ahiable, a senior applications developer at Boston College. Akofa discusses her journey as a double major in mathematics and computer science at Wellesley, providing valuable insights and practical advice for students looking to succeed in both academia and the tech industry. This passionate Lego enthusiast shares with us from her experience of working in 3 different industries, chemical engineering (AspenTech), document processing (Snowbound Software) and higher education (Boston College). Akofa is also currently pursuing her masters in leadership and administration, and she also touches on this exciting new chapter in her academic journey.
Special Guest: Akofa Ahiable
Host: Sarah Jelimo Kimutai
Producer: Smaranda Sandu
Editor: Sarah Jelimo Kimutai, Youna Kang
Transcript: https://mas2508.wixsite.com/mind-the-gap/akofa-ahiable-transcript
Friday May 05, 2023
Friday May 05, 2023
Annick is joined by Dominique Huang (Wellesley College Class of 2019) as she talks to us about her journey to becoming a full-time Product Manager at Microsoft.
Special Guest: Dominique Huang
Hosts: Annick Giles
Producer: Smaranda Sandu
Editor: Annick Giles, Heidi Salgado
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Join Annick as she interviews Yesenia Trujillo, a successful product manager at PlayStation and Wellesley College alumna. Yesenia shares her inspiring career journey, from starting out in a simple job to becoming a skilled SEM analyst, and then transitioning to product management. She discusses the challenges of being an underrepresented community member in a competitive job market and shares how she overcame these difficulties. Yesenia also highlights the relevance of her double major in computer science and women's and gender studies to her current role and how it has influenced her approach to product management. Listen in to hear her valuable lessons and inspiring story, including her experience starting as a contract product manager and eventually landing a full-time role at PlayStation.
Special Guest: Yesenia Trujillo
Host: Annick Gilles
Producer: Smaranda Sandu
Editor: Sarah Jelimo, Annick Giles
Transcript: https://mas2508.wixsite.com/mind-the-gap/yesenia-trujillo-transcript
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Meet the hosts for this season! Heidi Salgado ‘23, Jelimo Kimutai ‘24, and Youna Kang ‘25 introduce themselves and discuss their backgrounds in tech as well as briefly gives a overview of what topics they will touch on through the future podcasts.
Transcript: https://mas2508.wixsite.com/mind-the-gap/spring23-transcript
Friday May 13, 2022
Friday May 13, 2022
Alexa is joined by Anne Schwartz (Wellesley College Class of 2018) who is a former backend software engineer at Peloton and current program manager for the University@Peloton program. They discuss why Anne switched their major to computer science, senior recruiting (and why they rescinded an offer at a finance company), Peloton’s work culture, being queer and non-binary in tech and how they started Peloton’s Pride and Allies resource group, and what sparked their pivot from software engineering to program management.
Special Guest: Anne Schwartz
Hosts: Alexa Halim
Producer: Smaranda Sandu
Editor: Alexa Halim, Annick Giles
Transcript: https://mas2508.wixsite.com/mind-the-gap/anne-schwartz-transcript
Friday May 06, 2022
Friday May 06, 2022
Meet the hosts for this season! Alexa Halim ‘25, Alexis Parker ‘23, and Annick Gilles ‘23 introduce themselves and discuss their backgrounds in tech as well as their first experiences with coding, potential career interests, what they hope to learn from guests they bring on, and studying computer science at Wellesley and college overall.
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Oreoluwa is joined by Katie White (Wellesley College Class of 2020), who is a Senior Marketing Associate at Acorio, a ServiceNow consultancy. Katie White discusses her current role and how Wellesley prepared her. She also describes how she figured out her Media Arts and Sciences major and what classes she wanted to pursue at Wellesley.
Special Guest: Katie White
Hosts: Oreoluwa Odeyinka
Producer: Smaranda Sandu
Editor: Annick Gilles, Alexa Halim, Alexis Parker
Transcript: https://mas2508.wixsite.com/mind-the-gap/katie-white-transcript
Friday Apr 08, 2022
Friday Apr 08, 2022
Janelle is joined by Nico Addae, a Neuroscience and Sociology major who graduated from Wellesley College in 2020. Nico is a product manager at Gradient Health, Inc, an AI medical start-up, where she leads community development among NSF/NIH-funded radiology, machine learning labs, and marketing strategy. Along with being a 2020 Venture for America Fellow, Nico Addae is passionate about building entrepreneurship ecosystems and developing access to meaningful and impactful opportunities for minority women in AI. In this episode, Nico tells us more about product management as well as the MIT course in venture engineering she took that led to her interest in entrepreneurship. She discusses the different roles in PM and the difference between being a product manager vs. a product marketing manager. She also shares what it is like being a Black woman in the tech industry and what she has learned both in college and in the workforce.Special Guest: Nico AddaeHost(s): Janelle LeungProducer: Smaranda SanduEditor: Janelle Leung
Transcript: https://mas2508.wixsite.com/mind-the-gap/nico-addae-transcript
Saturday Apr 02, 2022
Saturday Apr 02, 2022
Our hosts this semester, current Wellesley College students Janelle Leung ‘22, Oreoluwa Odeyinka ‘22, and Raine Tenerelli ‘22, introduce themselves and discuss what the format for the season will look like. They also discuss their experiences studying computer science at Wellesley and what drew them to this podcast.